Wi-SUN Smart City Living Lab Challenge Names a Winner
The Wi-SUN Smart City Living Lab Challenge , a collaborative effort between International Institute of Information Technology (IIITH) Smart City Living Lab in Hyderabad, India and Silicon Labs, has successfully concluded, leaving a lasting impression on the IoT and smart city landscape. Designed to bring together hardware innovators, startups, and academic institutions, the challenge aimed to inspire the development of practical solutions using Wi-SUN RF mesh technology. This initiative, aligned with the larger vision of the Wi-SUN Alliance to promote interoperability and standardization in IoT, has not only spurred innovation but has also provided a platform for real-world impact.
The challenge attracted an overwhelming response, with 266 submissions from across India, including students, researchers, entrepreneurs, and working professionals. Participants proposed solutions across a variety of domains such as smart cities, energy, water utilities, healthcare, and smart parking. The focus areas of the challenge included edge intelligence, predictive maintenance, and battery-powered smart utility solutions. Each submission not only presented an innovative idea but also included detailed execution plans, budgetary considerations, and component requirements.
The selection process was rigorous, with a panel of industry experts that included associate professor Dr. Aftab Hussain and lead architect Mrs. Anuradha Vattem from IIITH, R&D Training Lead, APAC, Venkatesh Narasimhan, and Sr. Product Marketing Manager, Srinivasa Dukkipati from Silicon Labs. Over the course of several evaluation rounds, the panel carefully reviewed the submissions based on their relevance to smart city applications, their understanding of sensor and cloud connectivity, and the teams’ ability to develop their solutions within the given timeframe. After a thorough review, the panel narrowed down the entries to 10 finalists, which included six startup teams and four teams from colleges. The selected projects were not only innovative but also showcased a strong potential for real-world application, addressing a variety of challenges ranging from smart dustbins and particulate matter monitoring devices to real-time water quality monitoring systems, warehouse management bots, and real-time soil monitoring.
In early August, the 10 finalist teams participated in a one-day workshop that provided hands-on experience with the Wi-SUN Limited Function Node (LFN) hardware kit and the software development platform. Following the workshop, the teams began the process of developing their Proof of Concept (PoC) solutions, using the existing Wi-SUN backbone network at the IIIT Hyderabad campus. This phase of the challenge allowed the teams to test their solutions in a real-world environment, ensuring that their designs were practical, scalable, and ready for deployment.
As the challenge progressed, three outstanding projects stood out among the finalists and were selected as the winners. The first-place project, Farmer’s Voice developed by Ramu Dhannana, is an app-enabled hardware solution to help farmers manage every aspect of their farms using voice commands. This innovative solution provides a simple, user-friendly interface that allows farmers to detect diseases and pests, estimate demand, check weather forecast reports, and manage other farm operations, all through their voice. The overall solution also has features like inter crop recommendation, direct buyer connectivity, and is available in native Indian languages. The project’s focus on accessibility and ease of use for farmers demonstrated the team’s ability to address a critical need in the agriculture sector, making it a deserving winner.
The second-place project, ML-driven solar maintenance with Wi-SUN connectivity was presented by Vismaya Devashya and Dr. Harish Kumar L, tackled the issue of solar panel efficiency decline in dust-prone areas, where manual cleaning is both time-consuming and expensive. The team developed a predictive maintenance solution powered by machine learning and IoT sensors to monitor dust levels, temperature, and solar panel performance in real-time. This automated system allows for scheduled cleaning and maintenance, reducing manual labor costs and significantly improving efficiency. With India's solar market expected to reach 100 GW by 2025, this solution has the potential to be implemented on a large scale, making it an essential tool for solar farm operators.
In third place, Yantram Electronics presented a submetering product that provides wireless coverage for large areas using a single wireless technology. This solution facilitates multiple applications, particularly in energy and utility management, where real-time monitoring of consumption is crucial for optimizing resource usage. The product’s scalability and versatility in smart city infrastructures made it a strong contender among the finalists.
The Wi-SUN Smart City Living Lab Challenge has proven to be more than just a competition—it has been a platform for innovation, collaboration, and real-world impact. By bringing together diverse teams, the challenge has paved the way for the next generation of IoT-driven solutions. The participants demonstrated not only their technical expertise but also their commitment to addressing pressing challenges in innovative ways.
As the challenge concludes, the journey for these innovators is far from over. With the support of IIITH, Silicon Labs, and the Wi-SUN ecosystem, these projects have the potential to be further developed and implemented, making a tangible difference in smart cities across the world. The Wi-SUN Challenge has undoubtedly been a catalyst for change, and we look forward to seeing these ideas come to life in the near future. Congratulations to all the winners and participants for their incredible contributions to this challenge!
